Resource Geelong Football Club history

[thejester]

The Universal Service Scheme, the first system of compulsory military service in Australia was passed into law in 1911 - the above may be some of the first to do this duty.

I was thinking that, but my understanding was the USS started with teenagers - those guys look too old.

 

[RogersResults]

I was thinking that, but my understanding was the USS started with teenagers - those guys look too old.

The legislation provided for three levels of training: boys 12–14 years old had to enrol in the junior cadets, 14–18 year-olds enrolled in the senior cadets, and 18–26 year-olds had to register with the home defence militia, the Commonwealth Military Forces. Exemptions were given to those who lived more than five miles [eight kilometres] from the nearest training site, those passed medically unfit, to resident aliens and theological students. Those who failed to register for military training were punished with fines or jail sentences. Many did not register for their military training, and between 1911 and 1915 there were 34,000 prosecutions, with 7,000 jail sentences imposed.

National Archives of Australia, Fact sheet: Universal military training in Australia, 1911–29

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I guess I was given false information regarding that photo then.

My apologies.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I guess I was given false information regarding that photo then.

My apologies.

Mate, if we all had to apologise for every time we were given false information.....

 

[thejester]

I guess I was given false information regarding that photo then.

My apologies.

Not sure that it's false information. Bit of a shameless namedrop but I just showed the photo to Craig Stockings and he basically concurs with Roger - existing rifle clubs combined with the Militia formed by the USS, so the theory that this is the team with men from the rifle club next to Corio Bay isn't implausible. Either way it's pretty interesting - one of the problems with a lot of footy 'history' is the way it is divorced from context.

 

[RogersResults]

I guess I was given false information regarding that photo then.

My apologies.

No need to apologise - the pic is held by Museum Victoria and by posting it here you've helped clear up the ambiguity in its current 'description of content'.

 

[footscore]

can you imagine those blokes playing today...be like 18 Cam Mooney's running around
MRP would have a field day

 

[thejester]

Is the fourth from left in the back row Joe Slater?

 

[footscore]

he looks like Brock McLean's brother and the one in the middle 2nd from left would pass for Peter Riccardi

 

[FredLeDeux]

The one standing 3rd from right looks like my cousin Malc.

 

[RogersResults]

Is the fourth from left in the back row Joe Slater?

The players are not identified in the published version of the 1914 photo but from others photos 4th from left back row looks like Joe Slater.
Fence in background looks like the MCG - stand could be the members stand - making the occasion of the photo possibly the 1914 semi-final v Sth Melbourne - making the team:
Allen, Harry
Armstrong, Les
Brownlees, Rupe
Dalton, Bert
Eason, Alec
Eason, Bill
Fairbairn, Les
Gray, Jack
Grigg, Dick
Healy, Leo
Heinz, George
James, Les
Johns, Alwyn
Marsham, Harry (possibly middle 2nd left)
Martini, Percy
McCarter, Billy
Rankin, Bert (kneeling front right)
Slater, Joe (back 4th left)

 

[RogersResults]

can you imagine those blokes playing today...be like 18 Cam Mooney's running around
MRP would have a field day

Club secretary (CEO) Chas. Brownlow had a strict "no dickheads" policy. No Geelong player was reported in 1914 and they had the equivalent of the MRP (stewards) on the ground as well as the umpires, following the play during the match.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Club secretary (CEO) Chas. Brownlow had a strict "no dickheads" policy. No Geelong player was reported in 1914 and they had the equivalent of the MRP (stewards) on the ground as well as the umpires, following the play during the match.

Love the CEO bit, have to communicate with the younger generation.

 

[footscore]

Club secretary (CEO) Chas. Brownlow had a strict "no dickheads" policy. No Geelong player was reported in 1914 and they had the equivalent of the MRP (stewards) on the ground as well as the umpires, following the play during the match.

really?
Very surprising, especially that early in the century as I only presumed they had the 1 umpire.

The blokes in that day certainly would have been able to throw a punch and would not have put up with a lot as opposed to the players in today's game.
WW1 just started and it must have been such a tense time early on.

 

[thejester]

Makes sense, Joe Slater didn't enlist until May 1915 - one of the many inspired by the Gallipoli landings, presumably. His service details are here if anyone cares. KIA 3/5/17 during the Battle of Bullecourt.

 

[footscore]

poor guy and was only 28 at the time of his passing and exactly 2 yrs to date between his embarkation and KIA details.

Can't imagine how awful it must have been for all those mothers and fathers receiving the dreaded news.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

No need to apologise - the pic is held by Museum Victoria and by posting it here you've helped clear up the ambiguity in its current 'description of content'.

I've asked somebody to collect as much statistics and information on the club as possible.

I've designed a basic wiki page and I'll be working on it pretty soon.

I want it to be as comprehensive as possible that every fan will enjoy.

 

[SJ]

http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/app...0&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=AGE040916KS5LI7F4391

Geelong the very model of a modern major club
Author: JAKE NIALL
Date: 16/09/2004
Words: 668
Source: AGE
Publication: The Age
Section: Sport
Page: 12
To aspire to be Brisbane is like wishing you looked like George Clooney, sang like Andrea Bocelli and wielded a racquet with the balletic finesse of Roger Federer.
The other 15 clubs cannot hope to become the second coming of the Lions. And, for that matter, future Lions cannot aspire to emulate themselves.

The Brisbane dynasty was created by unique circumstances - I will not bother with the details, suffice to say good management and a fair dose of luck - that are unlikely to be repeated in the near future, or indeed, within 30 years.

If there is a model club for the strugglers to hold up as an example, it would not be the freakish Lions. Nor should the model be Essendon, the perennial contender, nor the powerful Eddie Pies, nor West Coast, with its waiting list for sponsors.

The model, as of today, is Geelong.

Granted, they have not been to a grand final for nine years and remain closer to the poorhouse than financial powerhouse, but what has been so impressive about the Cats is that their success has been built, almost entirely, on excellent decision-making.

They have not relied on hand-outs, priority draft picks, quick-fixes, false prophets or profits. Geelong's climb back to respectability has been slower than Cameron Ling and as painful as Cameron Mooney's forearm.

At times, one wondered if the club would ever extricate itself from the twin diseases of debt and a lousy playing list.

Should Geelong win a premiership within the next few years, it should be said that this long-awaited flag will have been won, not by Ablett jnr, Matthew Scarlett, by the fruitful draft of 2001 or even by Mark Thompson, whom his old mentor Kevin Sheedy claimed would be the closest approximation of Jesus Christ if Geelong got past the Lions on Saturday.

The flag, if and when it happens, will belong to the administration of Brian Cook and Frank Costa.

The Geelong chief executive and president were responsible for hiring Thompson and, more significantly, for sticking with "Bomber" and extending his contract when many of us questioned the coach's performance.

They took over a club swimming in red ink and wiped off a debt of several million, while still managing their ground's expensive renovations.

Throughout the Cook-Costa years, Geelong has not had a draft pick higher than pick seven.

The Cats had been caught in that doomed lower-middle section of the ladder, condemned never to get access to a Riewoldt or Judd or a decent uncontracted player and without the finals cachet that makes trading easier.

And, as their ongoing failure to find a decent key forward demonstrates, their provincial location made it nigh-impossible for the Cats to land a decent fish from another club. How would they look now if they were kicking to Fraser Gehrig instead of Kent Kingsley?

The Cats have shown Richmond and Hawthorn the way forward, which is, first and foremost, to make long-term decisions and stick with them, taking the hits along the way.

The Geelong side that defeated Essendon last weekend contained 15 players who were 23 or younger. When you stacked up this group against their Essendon counterparts of the same age, it was clear that the Cats had managed their list superbly. Essendon is no slouch at list management, yet, like most clubs, the Dons' younger brigade was not in the same league.

If the Cats can win a premiership, they will become the role model, having shown that it is possible to create a vibrant young team without falling to 15th or 16th.

When I say the creation of this model Geelong has been managed "almost" completely on its own steam and without handouts or much in the way of luck, there is one notable exception:

Geelong has been aided and abetted by the father-son rule, because Gary Ablett jnr and Matthew Scarlett are the genetic answer to priority picks.

http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/app...0&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=AGE040916KS5LI7F4391

 

[RogersResults]

http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=priority picks&pb=shd&pb=sag&pb=age&pb=smh&dt=enterRange&dr=1month&sd=01/01/2004&ed=01/01/2005&so=date&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=AGE040916KS5LI7F4391

http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=priority picks&pb=shd&pb=sag&pb=age&pb=smh&dt=enterRange&dr=1month&sd=01/01/2004&ed=01/01/2005&so=date&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=AGE040916KS5LI7F4391

Niall on the nail. I remember this but not what he might have been saying towards the end of 2006. Be interesting to see if he stuck to his guns.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Good article and interesting thoughts pre dynasty.

 

[GloblFotbalCrsis]

I'm confused, in the 1937 video why do the refer to the game in the then VFL as the Australian football league grand final?

 

[GloblFotbalCrsis]

Also just wondering did everyone give up on the idea of making a wiki page?

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Also just wondering did everyone give up on the idea of making a wiki page?

No mate, I began the basics of a wiki page, but after being informed by RogersResults that he has intends to forward an idea to the club, I'm awaiting the verdict until I progress further.

The idea would be that the Football Club would provide the web-space and then in consultation with the History and Tradition Committee, all Geelong supporters could then contribute as is done for Carlton at the 'Blueseum'.

He will notify of progression in this thread.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I'm confused, in the 1937 video why do the refer to the game in the then VFL as the Australian football league grand final?

Cinesound relied on marketing its films in the UK, perhaps it was the same with their newsreels, so they were just setting the scene for the Poms?

 

[SJ]

I'm confused, in the 1937 video why do the refer to the game in the then VFL as the Australian football league grand final?

Interesting! Fifty years ahead of its time.